This is what I like to call a ‘dynamic edit’ of “Dancing and Blood” by Low! Both *Double Negative* and *Hey What* are mastered REALLY loud, with a ton of dynamic range compression (not to confused with data compression, which concerns MP3s and such) applied to their final releases. However, these two albums may actually be rare examples wherein their extremely loud mastering is an intentional artistic decision.

For those not in the know, the Loudness War is a phenomenon beginning in the mid-90s onward, in which music was mastered louder and louder, with the underlying reasoning being that louder music sells better. As with any medium, however, there is a peak loudness a signal can reach, so dynamic range compression (which makes the louder parts of the signal quieter while keeping the quiet parts quiet) and sometimes even clipping (attempting to push a signal beyond its peak) were used to make music as loud as possible.

In the case of these two albums, however, I’m willing to bet that the mastering compression and clipping are intentional artistic decisions on the part of the band, rather than simply being quote-unquote “victims” of the Loudness War. Both these albums are not only loud, but some of the most compressed masterings I’ve ever come across, period. “Tempest”, “Always Trying to Work It Out”, and “Rome (Always in the Dark)” off *Double Negative* have substantial amounts of clipping throughout their runtimes, and the overall dynamic range of the tracks hovers around 3, with “Tempest” and “Rome (Always in the Dark)” having dynamic ranges of 0. (Typically, even louder masterings I’ve come across tend to have a dynamic range of 4 or 5.) Given the amount of distortion present on so many tracks in *Double Negative* and *Hey What*, it appears that both was mastered with next to no dynamic range, with often rampant clipping, as a choice to complement the aesthetics of the album’s mixes.

However, music that has faced a high degree of dynamic range compression or clipping in general can also be fatiguing to the ear. I attempted to fix up the clipping and compression on this release with a program called “Perfect Declipper”, can not only help alleviate clipping, but also much of the dynamic range compression that occurs during mastering! With the program, I was able to make the result much more dynamic! I was able to turn the dynamic range from 3 into 10 in *Double Negative*, and 2 to 10 in *Hey What*!

In my edits, it’s important to note that the dynamics are not being restored with the "Perfect Declipper" program that I use, but rather, they are being approximated. While one may not be able to "declip" an album as one would be unable to "unbake a cake", I find the results here to be a convincible attempt at doing so. Only in the most extreme examples have I heard the program produce odd artifacts that would appear unintended in the album’s mix. The fact that both *Double Negative* and *Hey What* are so compressed (and often clipped) really pushes the limits of the program I use, so some of the results may sound a bit odd, especially at the end of “Tempest”. I also want to present this all with the caveat that dynamic range compression is not inherently a bad thing. Compression can be used to tighten up performances, provide color to mixes, and to achieve hard, punchy sounds.

I produce many more dynamic edits on this channel as well as further descriptions in posts over on Reddit! [ Ссылка ]

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